The opioid epidemic has infiltrated communities throughout Canada and the United States at an alarming rate, and help for the individuals who need treatment is not reaching them quickly enough. For parents with addiction issues who are caring for children, the repercussions may be even more severe, requiring a proactive legal approach.

Recent family law jurisprudence has indicated that drug use can create a “destructive and dysfunctional lifestyle, one which is marked by criminality, chaos and conflict," the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled in Nova Scotia...